Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee: UnderUsed
(banner to come?)
Premise
Thanks to the dedicated team behind LGPE OU (s/o Kris), there are usage stats available for Let's Go formats. This naturally means UU is upon us! Much like the OU format, this metagame is based off of the "Normal Rules" in-game, which notably does not use boosts from Candies. It incorporates the unique style of LGPE battles and new formes exclusive to the games (namely Starter Pikachu) as well as Smogon standard clauses.
Rules:
Mechanics: "Normal rules" as found on cartridge. Pokémon are set to Level 50. They do not utilize AVs (Candy boosts), Abilities, or Items. IVs and Nature still apply. Friendship is set to 70.
Clauses: Applicable Smogon-wide Clauses.
Allowed Pokémon: Pokémon not exceeding 3.41% combined usage in LGPE OU.
Strategy:
A lot of the greats in OU make up vast proportions of usage, especially as the metagame has settled. As a result, there's quite a few 'mons in here that are nigh unseen elsewhere and can be quite fun to experiment with. Main archetypes of gameplay remain mostly similar.
Status: Bulk in the candyless metagame is scarce. As such, statuses like burns, to halve Attack; and paralysis, to halve Speed and fully paralyze on occasion; are invaluable. The venerable combination of Will-o-Wisp and reliable recovery comes on Moltres. Arbok carries the unique Glare, which retains its classic 100% accuracy and ability to paralyze Ground types. Regular Exeggutor spreads Sleep, and unlike its Alolan counterpart, it can set Leech Seed as well.
Stealth Rock: Stealth Rock users have an interesting variety of faces in UU. These include Clefable, Dugtrio, Golem, Kabutops, Marowak, Omastar, Onix, and even Wigglytuff. In UU, solely Onix has the compressed option of carrying both Stealth Rock and Taunt in one package. Users of Roar and Dragon Tail to rack up hazard damage include Arcanine, Ninetales, Blastoise, Arbok (can also Glare), Onix, and Lickitung.
Setup: This goes hand in hand with status spreading. Many in UU possess the gruesome combination of a sleep-inducing move and a setup move, such as Alolan Persian, Jynx, and Ninetales. Starter Pikachu, with its rather outstanding Speed tier, can set up a Calm Mind or two if lucky and pretend to be comparable to Mega Alakazam. On the other end of the Speed spectrum, Slowbro and its Mega can set up Calm Minds as well to become a nearly unbreakable wall.
Light Screen & Reflect: Certain Screen users are nimble, like Electrode, which possesses an unmatched Speed tier and spreads paralysis as well. Screens allow your team to receive setup opportunities that would otherwise be hard to come by. Bulky users of Reflect like Exeggutor fare well also.
Priority: There are quite a few viable users of priority in UU. Fake Out has some distribution; Quick Attack serves a purpose on Dodrio. Most strategically of all, Sucker Punch finds a great home with Mega Kangaskhan and Alolan Raticate. The latter can even use Swords Dance for some massive damage real quickly.
FAQ:
Is this playable?
Yes! However, you have to be trusting. The teambuilder is kept up to date with UU as a category, so you can easily find out which Pokémon are eligible. Simply challenge an opponent to the OU format, but ensure you are both using your UU teams.
The OU thread said UU wouldn't exist! What gives!?
It's a pleasant surprise, isn't it? With the teambuilder supporting "UU" (below OU cutoff) at the moment, it only made sense to organize and create some resources for this list of rejects. The unexpected popularity of LGPE OU helped a great deal, too.
Are Mega Evolutions allowed?
Yes, Mega Evolutions are allowed. It may be the case that Mega Evolutions will be eventually tracked separately from their base formes in usage, as is done in the SM formats, which could also shake up the metagame quite a bit if some base formes were to drop. However, banning Mega Evolutions would require a game mod due to the nature of Mega Evolutions not requiring individual held Stones in theory.
What about Pika Papow or Veevee Volley?
Pika Papow and Veevee Volley require motion controls to activate and don't pop up during link battles, and are therefore not included.
Resources:
LGPE OU thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/lgpe-overused.3644015/
Discord (has channel for UU discussion): http://discord.gg/JxMZBXy
Pokémon Showdown Room (same as OU): https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/lgpeoverused
Damage Calculator: https://cantsay.github.io/
(banner to come?)
Premise
Thanks to the dedicated team behind LGPE OU (s/o Kris), there are usage stats available for Let's Go formats. This naturally means UU is upon us! Much like the OU format, this metagame is based off of the "Normal Rules" in-game, which notably does not use boosts from Candies. It incorporates the unique style of LGPE battles and new formes exclusive to the games (namely Starter Pikachu) as well as Smogon standard clauses.
Rules:
Mechanics: "Normal rules" as found on cartridge. Pokémon are set to Level 50. They do not utilize AVs (Candy boosts), Abilities, or Items. IVs and Nature still apply. Friendship is set to 70.
Clauses: Applicable Smogon-wide Clauses.
Allowed Pokémon: Pokémon not exceeding 3.41% combined usage in LGPE OU.
Be sure to check the teambuilder for the most up to date eligibility. Note that banned megas also imply the non-mega is not allowed. Pokémon from LGPE OU exceeding 3.41% usage in August 2019 are listed below.
| 1 | Melmetal | 79.22294% | 4920 | 48.094% | 4099 | 49.220% |
| 2 | Mew | 75.91141% | 3811 | 37.253% | 3364 | 40.395% |
| 3 | Zapdos | 60.07051% | 4087 | 39.951% | 3378 | 40.563% |
| 4 | Muk-Alola | 49.13262% | 3866 | 37.791% | 3041 | 36.516% |
| 5 | Alakazam-Mega | 27.10082% | 2837 | 27.732% | 2182 | 26.201% |
| 6 | Dugtrio-Alola | 26.18787% | 1103 | 10.782% | 901 | 10.819% |
| 7 | Aerodactyl-Mega | 26.09132% | 2812 | 27.488% | 2437 | 29.263% |
| 8 | Eevee-Starter | 23.25863% | 1823 | 17.820% | 1463 | 17.568% |
| 9 | Gengar-Mega | 22.70572% | 1685 | 16.471% | 1302 | 15.634% |
| 10 | Snorlax | 20.40578% | 2123 | 20.753% | 1686 | 20.245% |
| 11 | Dragonite | 18.32486% | 2510 | 24.536% | 1845 | 22.155% |
| 12 | Gyarados-Mega | 15.60736% | 1497 | 14.633% | 1263 | 15.166% |
| 13 | Poliwrath | 15.03642% | 980 | 9.580% | 812 | 9.750% |
| 14 | Venusaur-Mega | 14.77364% | 1867 | 18.250% | 1570 | 18.852% |
| 15 | Starmie | 13.17063% | 1909 | 18.661% | 1585 | 19.033% |
| 16 | Nidoking | 12.54197% | 1020 | 9.971% | 840 | 10.087% |
| 17 | Rhydon | 11.49935% | 1763 | 17.234% | 1537 | 18.456% |
| 18 | Cloyster | 8.62341% | 1309 | 12.796% | 1040 | 12.488% |
| 19 | Nidoqueen | 8.06528% | 700 | 6.843% | 649 | 7.793% |
| 20 | Kangaskhan-Mega | 6.80663% | 367 | 3.587% | 308 | 3.698% |
| 21 | Clefable | 6.54879% | 583 | 5.699% | 501 | 6.016% |
| 22 | Beedrill-Mega | 6.45542% | 894 | 8.739% | 740 | 8.886% |
| 23 | Electrode | 4.14393% | 320 | 3.128% | 277 | 3.326% |
| 24 | Chansey | 4.00821% | 749 | 7.322% | 627 | 7.529% |
| 25 | Sandslash-Alola | 3.47758% | 681 | 6.657% | 573 | 6.881% |
Strategy:
A lot of the greats in OU make up vast proportions of usage, especially as the metagame has settled. As a result, there's quite a few 'mons in here that are nigh unseen elsewhere and can be quite fun to experiment with. Main archetypes of gameplay remain mostly similar.
Status: Bulk in the candyless metagame is scarce. As such, statuses like burns, to halve Attack; and paralysis, to halve Speed and fully paralyze on occasion; are invaluable. The venerable combination of Will-o-Wisp and reliable recovery comes on Moltres. Arbok carries the unique Glare, which retains its classic 100% accuracy and ability to paralyze Ground types. Regular Exeggutor spreads Sleep, and unlike its Alolan counterpart, it can set Leech Seed as well.
Stealth Rock: Stealth Rock users have an interesting variety of faces in UU. These include Clefable, Dugtrio, Golem, Kabutops, Marowak, Omastar, Onix, and even Wigglytuff. In UU, solely Onix has the compressed option of carrying both Stealth Rock and Taunt in one package. Users of Roar and Dragon Tail to rack up hazard damage include Arcanine, Ninetales, Blastoise, Arbok (can also Glare), Onix, and Lickitung.
Setup: This goes hand in hand with status spreading. Many in UU possess the gruesome combination of a sleep-inducing move and a setup move, such as Alolan Persian, Jynx, and Ninetales. Starter Pikachu, with its rather outstanding Speed tier, can set up a Calm Mind or two if lucky and pretend to be comparable to Mega Alakazam. On the other end of the Speed spectrum, Slowbro and its Mega can set up Calm Minds as well to become a nearly unbreakable wall.
Light Screen & Reflect: Certain Screen users are nimble, like Electrode, which possesses an unmatched Speed tier and spreads paralysis as well. Screens allow your team to receive setup opportunities that would otherwise be hard to come by. Bulky users of Reflect like Exeggutor fare well also.
Priority: There are quite a few viable users of priority in UU. Fake Out has some distribution; Quick Attack serves a purpose on Dodrio. Most strategically of all, Sucker Punch finds a great home with Mega Kangaskhan and Alolan Raticate. The latter can even use Swords Dance for some massive damage real quickly.
FAQ:
Is this playable?
Yes! However, you have to be trusting. The teambuilder is kept up to date with UU as a category, so you can easily find out which Pokémon are eligible. Simply challenge an opponent to the OU format, but ensure you are both using your UU teams.
The OU thread said UU wouldn't exist! What gives!?
It's a pleasant surprise, isn't it? With the teambuilder supporting "UU" (below OU cutoff) at the moment, it only made sense to organize and create some resources for this list of rejects. The unexpected popularity of LGPE OU helped a great deal, too.
Are Mega Evolutions allowed?
Yes, Mega Evolutions are allowed. It may be the case that Mega Evolutions will be eventually tracked separately from their base formes in usage, as is done in the SM formats, which could also shake up the metagame quite a bit if some base formes were to drop. However, banning Mega Evolutions would require a game mod due to the nature of Mega Evolutions not requiring individual held Stones in theory.
What about Pika Papow or Veevee Volley?
Pika Papow and Veevee Volley require motion controls to activate and don't pop up during link battles, and are therefore not included.
Resources:
LGPE OU thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/lgpe-overused.3644015/
Discord (has channel for UU discussion): http://discord.gg/JxMZBXy
Pokémon Showdown Room (same as OU): https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/lgpeoverused
Damage Calculator: https://cantsay.github.io/
Last edited:
